So I think I am sold on a sony camera and the 3 I were looking at were the new HX100V, NEX5 or the A33. Now I know that these are 3 completly different tyes of camera and I am looking for some input. I am leaning towards the new HX100V since it seems to have everything I am looking for and the price seems right, but some reviews I have read say its not that grate in low light and indoor shots, and since alot of my pictures will be of birthdays and special occations it makes me nervious. I don't know if going with the nex5 or a33 would be a good idea since the long term investment will be much more $$$ with buying lens. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks

No matter what camera you choose, there will always be a trade off. There is no perfect camera out there. Noise is easily manageable with proper exposures, good shooting technique, and post-processing- I personally would not let this hold you back. However, if noise more important to you than the rest of the camera's features, you should look at some of Nikon and canon's offerings- although they will likely be out of your price range.

So my personal suggestion- go with it. Read up on noise reduction, particularly in lightroom 3, so you have an idea of what is capable. Also ask yourself if you are really going to care about noise, which for the most part is usually only really visible at sizes and zoom settings that are entirely irrelevant to day-to-day viewing and printing.

Info that would definitely help:
1. What types of photography will you take most often with the camera? And what general other types of photography are you interested in?

2. What features are most important for you to have, and what features don't mean much to you? Do you need low light ability often? Do you need telephoto capability often? Do you need wide angle often? Will you be shooting any action, sports, moving wildlife, or subjects often?

3. How have you taken photos in the past, and how much skill do you have? Do you know how to manually set any settings, or have you always used auto? Did you always shoot using the LCD, did you have an electronic viewfinder, or have you ever used an optical finder?

4. Do you prize compactness or portability above having the best possible quality at any given focal length? Would you be willing to buy into a kit with multiple lenses for different purposes, if budget were not a factor (if you had no money issues, would you be happy buying or carrying a bag of multiple lenses, or would you still want something more portable)?

Those should help narrow down if one type of camera is the better way to go. The HX will have the most overall convenience and portability. The NEX will have significantly better image quality potential in a wider range of shooting situations, but be limited in some types of photography - it is portable with the right lens, and can be used with only one lens, but would have much more restricted focal range, or paired with a more capable telephoto lens loses its size advantage over a DSLR. The A33 would be capable of shooting in the most types of photographic situations and with decent performance capabilities in most shooting conditions, but also be the least portable and most likely to require investment in additional lenses.

Thanks zackiedawg for the good input we needed to narrow down choices for our new camera. Here are my answers to the Q's:
1) I will use cam 70% outdoors on vistas, forests, animals, nature's "actions", flowers and flower gardens, and 30% indoors on portraits, artwork, parties.

2) most important features for me include: high quality pix using a big zoom NEARLY AS Well as with wide angle, good stability system, takes good action pix like fish jumping out of the sea or birds taking flight; is very reliable and rugged; has both an elect viewfinder and LCD; LCD needs to be useable in fairly bright conditions, and sufficient resolution to induce me to stop using viewfinder; reasonably portable; fairly long battery life; easy transfer of pix to either PC or TV. Price @ Amazon or Best Buy up to $400 including case, basic lense filter, spare battery and charger, and with transfer interface to PC. Connection for optional external flash and/or rotating LCD would be good, but not deal breakers
I am NOT particularly interested in the video aspects of modern cams

3) In the past I have taken pix 99% in Auto, and with viewfinder, vs LCD, but now that I am retired I hope to devote more time to cam and will begin to use more manual settings.

4) I am not interested in pocket-sized NOR DSLRs; the bridge cam seems near perfect if only I can find the features of most importance listed above.

I started narrowing cams down a few weeks ago, and have narrowed possibilities to the following: Sony HX100v, the Panasonic FZ 40 and FZ100, and the Canon 30 IS .. all super-zooms with lots of auto and manual features.

I would really appreciate any help you or other experienced photo buffs choose to make. I have already asked Camera Labs to try to run a comparison of the best 2010 super-zoom bridge cams (all those listed above) with the Sony, but your input will bring different perspectives to the issues.